Brutal Fantasies

A bomb slaughters American intelligence officers, their wives, and children. Irish-American CIA officer John Darcy seizes the opportunity to redeem his failed professional and personal life by finding and eliminating the terrorist.

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Darcy plunges deeper into an undercover operation that the CIA will disown should he fail. He's on his own in a terrorist world that operates according to its own rules. His quest forces him to confront not only the fanaticism of the bomber but also the woman who rejected him, the God he rejected, and the truths of his own clandestine operations.

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In this stunning psychological thriller, John Hands takes us on a powerful journey of suspense which forces a man to choose between the most precious thing in his life and his own redemption.

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REVIEWS

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"Why are John Hands's beautifully crafted thrillers (Darkness at Dawn, Perestroika Christi), which are published in hardcover in England to much critical acclaim, issued only as paperbacks in the United States? Whatever the reason, this has to be the best reading bargain in the business... A top CIA agent, John Darcy, quickly brought to life with the kind of details that only an artist would include, is forced to take independent action when a ghost from his own past combines with an act of horrific destruction."

-Editorial Review, Amazon.com

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"Excellent. A psychological thriller about the compromised soul of the secret agent... The character of John Darcy is as convincing as any I have encountered in espionage fiction... Hands builds and holds a palpable sense of tension that has all the drama and intimacy of good theatre. The achingly tantalizing crawl towards the climax is a masterpiece of suspense."

-Peter Millar, The Times

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"Hands creates a real depth of feeling between the central figures in one of the year's best espionage novels."

-Michael Hartland, Daily Telegraph

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"This book is not merely a thriller. It is a novel of great profundity... One of the best novels I have read for a very long time. It deserves not only to become a best seller on its own merits, but also because it will promote greater understanding of the best and worst of humanity."

-Jonathan Kemp, Catholic Herald

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"A suspenseful and informative read."

-Lise Hand, Sunday Independent